The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/57001
Michele Gossmeyer is the Global IT Administration/Communication Manager for Mayer Brown LLP, where she is responsible for managing the firm's global IT budget, IT-HR and communications. Michele has been with Mayer Brown for over 20 years and has filled a multitude of roles within the IT organization — from back-office technical support to network management — and she has managed several large technology projects. Michele is currently serving as the President on ILTA's Board of Directors and previously served as the Board of Director's Peer Group Liaison (2009-2010), ILTA's Conference Co-Chair (2008-2009) and on the conference committee (2006-2007). She can be reached at mgossmeyer@mayerbrown.com. can service clients well with multijurisdictional and geographical requirements. At the other end of the scale is a business model that operates as a single global entity that has instituted collaboration and communication mechanisms that allow it to operate on a totally "joined-up" basis, offering consistent worldwide services to its clients. One could go further by stating that businesses like these have indeed developed a suite of products and services tailored for global corporations. I suspect that like most global law firms, we are sitting somewhere between these two extremes. Summarize your global customer support structure. Lea Angelin-Linker is the Assistant Director of IT Customer Service at Mayer Brown JSM. She has been with the firm for over two years and is responsible for global integration in IT project management and IT operations. Lea has worked within the legal IT industry for over 10 years with Magic Circle firms, such as Clifford Chance and Linklaters, in a service management capacity. Her roles involved system integration, change management and project management. Lea can be reached at lea.angelin-linker@mayerbrownjsm.com. Michele Gossmeyer: We have an Assistant Director (AD) of Customer Services in each region (Americas, EMEA and Asia) who oversees the service desk, training and communications functions for the offices in their region. As part of the service desk, each region has a centralized call center that handles the majority of the first-line support calls (either via phone or remote assistance software). Calls that require onsite attention are escalated to the deskside support team located in the user's office (the majority of our offices have at least one onsite resource). Calls that need to be escalated for further troubleshooting Kristin Gorman is the Americas IT Learning and Development Manager at Mayer Brown LLP, and she is responsible for management of the firm's global IT training. Kristin has been with Mayer Brown LLP for over 15 years, where she has filled various roles within the IT organization — from trainer to training/service desk supervisor. Kristin has managed the training/ support for numerous large technology projects. She can be reached at kgorman@mayerbrown.com. and/or additional technical assistance are then assigned to the appropriate technical support teams (e.g., desktop applications, financial systems, etc.). Is a global support/training model truly possible given the various regional differences (language, culture, etc.)? Jeff Linnert is the Americas Customer Service Manager at Mayer Brown LLP. He is a technology and business leader with over 18 years of progressive experience delivering exceptional customer service. Jeff has built and managed domestic and global 24/7 enterprise support organizations. He has well- developed communication, negotiation and problem-solving skills, and an ability to work collaboratively across multiple regions. Jeff has a highly successful track record of building, training and developing top-producing professional, technical, support and operational teams to meet the challenges within the legal industry. He can be reached at jlinnert@mayerbrown.com. Angelos: I can best describe this using the analogy of setting out to cook a meal for a special occasion. If the ingredients are present and the recipe is followed accurately, you should be able to enjoy the fruits of your labors. In this case, the ingredients include all the necessary business and IT resources with the appropriate subject-matter expertise, and the recipe is the proven project methodology. Lea Angelin-Linker: 'Going global' is an accelerating trend, and a global support model is possible if consistent governing policies and procedures exist within the IT organization. Management should consider either a matrix or mixed support structure to cater to regional differences. A global office should be flexible enough to support varying responsibilities; business, service and product differences; and people management within 40 Peer to Peer